THURSDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDay News) -- A 21-day regimen of irinotecan and carboplatin is effective and well-tolerated in treating extensive and relapsed small-cell lung cancer, according to the results of a study published online Feb. 9 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

As part of a phase II trial, Gigi Chen, M.D., from the University of California-Davis in Sacramento, and colleagues treated 40 patients with extensive small-cell lung cancer and no previous chemotherapy and 40 patients with relapsed small-cell lung cancer and previous chemotherapy to irinotecan and carboplatin every 21 days for up to six cycles.

The researchers note that three patients died due to treatment-related neutropenic sepsis. Patients with extensive small-cell lung cancer and no previous chemotherapy had a response rate of 65 percent, while patients with relapsed lung cancer and previous chemotherapy had a response rate of 50 percent, the investigators found. Both groups had a median survival of 10 months. The 14 patients with brain metastases had a response rate of 65 percent for intracranial disease. The most common grade 3 to 4 toxicities in both groups included neutropenia (54 percent of patients), thrombocytopenia (22 percent) and diarrhea (22 percent), the report indicates.

"In summary, the three-week regimen of irinotecan and carboplatin was relatively well tolerated and efficacious in patients with small-cell lung cancer, especially for relapsed disease and brain metastasis," Chen and colleagues conclude.

The study was supported by an academic grant and Pfizer.

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